Jukpë
General information The Jukpë language (English: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:IPA_for_English d͡ʒuːkpə, Jukpë: kìjúkpë kìd͡ʒúk͡pə̥) is the traditional language of the Jukpë people. It is spoken by around seventy thousand people in the north of Cameroon, eastern Nigeria, southern Chad and western Central African Republic. It is also used by Jukpë people and their descendants living abroad, most notably in Britain, France and South Africa. Jukpë is an isolating language, it has a simple syllable structure and lacks diphthongs. There are thirty-one consonants and six vowels; with vowels having two tones, high (◌́) and low (◌̀) - with the exception of "ë'''''". Word order is mainly SVO but occasionally SOV. Adpositions are prepositional and head direction is noun initial; that is that adjectives, numerals, demonstratives and genitives proceed the noun. Although Jukpë lacks grammatical gender there are six noun classes that do in fact act similarly to grammatical genders. There are also two numbers and conjugations occur according to voice, mood, number, tense and aspect using various affixes. Phonology and orthography Consonants Nasal *M m : m bilabial nasal *MH mh : m̥ voiceless bilabial nasal *N n : n alveolar nasal *NH nh : n̥ voiceless alveolar nasal *NY ny : ɲ palatal nasal *NYH nyh : ɲ̊ voiceless palatal nasal *NG ng : ŋ velar nasal *NGH ngh : ŋ̊ voiceless velar nasal Plosive *P p : p voiceless bilabial plosive *B b : b voiced bilabial plosive *T t : t voiceless alveolar plosive *D d : d voiced alveolar plosive *TH th : c voiceless palatal plosive *DH dh : ɟ voiced palatal plosive *K k : k voiceless velar plosive *G g : ɡ voiced velar plosive *KP kp : k͡p voiceless labial-velar plosive *GB gb : ɡ͡b voiced labial-velar plosive Fricative *F f : f voiceless labiodental fricative *V v : v voiced labiodental fricative *S s : s voiceless alveolar sibilant *Z z : z voiced alveolar fricative *KH kh : x voiceless velar fricative *GH gh : ɣ voiced velar fricative *Q q : ʕ̝ voiced pharyngeal fricative *H h : ɦ voiced glottal fricative Approximant *Y y : j palatal approximant Trill *BR br : ʙ bilabial trill Tap *R r : ɾ alveolar tap Affricate *CH ch : t͡ʃ voiceless palato-alveolar affricate *J j : d͡ʒ voiced palato-alveolar affricate Vowels *I i : i close front unrounded vowel *U u : u close back rounded vowel *O o : o̞ mid back rounded central vowel *Ë ë : ə̥ voiceless mid central vowel *E e : e̞ mid front unrounded vowel *A a : a open front unrounded vowel All vowels except ə̥ change according to tone. Alphabet *A B BR CH D DH E Ë F G GB GH H I J K KH KP M MH N NG NGH NH NY NYH O P Q R S T TH U V Y Z *a b br ch d dh e ë f g gb gh h i j k kh kp m mh n ng ngh nh ny nyh o p q r s t th u v y z N.B.: all digraphs and trigraphs are considered to be separate letters, whereas vowels with tonal marks are not. Grammar Articles Jukpë articles are used extremely sparingly, usually only for emphasis and in formal contexts. The definite article "ó''" corresponds to the English "the" and the indefinite article "ë'" corresponds to "a(n)" and "some". Articles are invariable. Nouns Though Jukpë does not have grammatical genders per se, there are six noun classes which act similarly and are divided according to the kind of word. Adjectives Classes Adjectives agree with the noun they describe regarding noun class prefix. For example the base adjective "èdhék" ("red"), is shown below: Comparatives Comparative constructions using "more" are made by adding the suffix "-'kú" to the adjective. For example, "The dog is older old than the bird" is translated as "Ó nájá nátímhójò nábrúnòkú ó nághùr". Constructions using "less" attach the suffix "-''dò''" to the adjective. For example, "The bird is younger old than the bird" is translated as "Ó nághùr nátímhójò nábrúnòdò ó nájá". Constructions conveying equality, i.e. "as... as", place "mí" before the adjective and "mì" after it. For example, "The dog is as young as the bird" is translated as "Ó nájá nátímhójò mí námálònh mì ó nághùr". Superlatives To construct a superlative using "most" the suffix "-''kúkù''" is attached the adjective. For example, "The biggest big dog" is translated as "Ó nájá nábrúnòkúkù". In the same way, superlative constructions using "least" attach the suffix "-''dòkù''" to the adjective. For example, "The smallest big bird" is translated as "Ó nághur nábrúnòdòkù". Vocabulary: *dog: ''(n)ájá'' *bird: ''(ná)ghùr'' *to be: ''gètímh'' *to learn: ''kèpár'' *old: ''brúnò'' *young: ''málònh'' Verbs Jukpë infinitive verbs begin with an infinitive prefix. There are six possible prefixes: "g(è)"-, "k(è)"-, "gh(ó)"-, "kh(ó)"-, "qù(b)"- and "hú(p)"-. For example "kèpár" means "to learn". This verbal affix system means that unusually Jukpë has no irregular verbs at all. Conjugations occur by replacing the infinitive prefix with another that agrees with the subject in class and number. Suffixes are added according to person. Infixes are added to further conjugate verbs according to voice, mood, tense and aspect. Affixes Pronoun Tense #Present: unmarked #Past: -''(í)l(í)''- #Future: -''(á)z(á)''- Aspect #Imperfective: unmarked #Perfective: -''(è)m(è)''- #Habitual: -''(à)r(à)''- Mood #Indicative: unmarked #Conditional: -''(ì)k(ì)''- #Interrogative: -''(ù)t(ù)''- #Subjunctive: -''(ë)t(ë)''- #Imperative: -''(à)kh(à)''- Voice #Active: unmarked #Passive: -''(d)ú(n)''- #Causative: -''(è)ny(è)''- #Reflexive: -''(s)á(m)''- #Reciprocal: -''®ú(g)''- Tense *The '''present tense refers to an occurrence which is happening now or to an object that currently exists. **"Mápárójò": "He is learning" *The past tense refers to something that has happened or to an object that no longer exists. **"Málípárójò": "He was learning" *The future tense refers to an event that will happen or to something that will exist. **"Mázápárójò": "He will learn" Aspect *The imperfective denotes an action or condition that does not have a fixed temporal boundary, but is unfinished, continuous or in progress. **"Mápárójò": "He is learning" **"Málípárójò": "He was learning" *The perfective denotes a completed event. **"Málímèpárójò": "He learnt" *The habitual is similar to the imperfective, it denotes an action or condition that does not have a fixed temporal boundary, but is habitual or repetitive. **"Máràpárójò": "He learns" **"Málíràpárójò": "He was learning" Mood *The indicative mood is used in ordinary factual or objective statements. **"Mápárójò": "He is learning" *The conditional mood is used to signify that something is dependant upon the out-come of something else. **"Mákìpárójò": "He would learn" *The interrogative mood is used for asking questions. **"Mátùpárójò?": "Does he learn?" *The subjunctive mood is used to express an action or state that is hypothetical or anticipated rather than actual, including wishes and commands. **"It is necessary that mátëpárójò": "It is necessary that he learn" *The imperative mood is used to express orders. **"Mákhàpárójò": "Learn!" Voice *The active voice is used to show that the subject of a verb carries out an action. **"Mápárójò": "He is learning" *The passive voice is used to show that the subject of a transitive verb receives an action. **"Mádúnyèpárójò": "He is being taught" *The causative voice is used to show that a subject causes someone or something else to do or become something or causes a change in state. **"Mányèpárójò": "He is teaching" *The reflexive voice is used to show that the subject of a verb carries out an action on itself. **"Mányèsápárójò": "He is teaching himself" *The reciprocal voice is used to show that the subject(s) of a verb perform an action on each other. **"Mányèrúpáróyò": "They are teaching each other" Negatives Verbs are negated by the use of the negative prefix "ngh(ì)"- which is affixed to the very front of the verb. For example, "nghìnápárèv" means "you (pl) aren't learning" and "nghìmányèsápárójò" means "he isn't teaching himself". Adverbs Adverbs are formed very simply. An adverbial prefix is simply added to the base adjective, "'kí(k)"-. As an example the base adjective meaning "quick" is "hàqá" and the adverb "quickly" in Jukpë is "kíhàqá". There are however some exceptions to this rule. The prime the adverbial form of "good" (i.e. "well"), as in English this is irregular in Jukpë. In Jukpë "good" is "jékhón" whereas "well" is "kíchëmèn". Category:Languages Category:Conlangs Category:Fictional Languages Category:Languages Category:Conlangs Category:Fictional Languages